Thanks for your nice replies.
I had another (actually two) sessions yesterday. I got to the airfield at 7:30 and first had a cup of coffee (well, at least they called it coffee. I should mention it was not at the flightschool). When i woke up, it was very misty with just 50 metres of sight
But it was 06:15 so i didn't bother and got ready to get to the airfield. On the way it cleared with the sunrise. I entered the school, got the flightbook and headed to the hangar. I managed to roll out the R22 to the apron. We decided to take the doors off as usual with OAT already at 20 degrees by that time. I started the preflight check, called for fuel, noted down some points (i still do not know every part of the helicopter and when your checklist says to check this and that and you do not know what to look for because you don't remember it, you'd better ask!). The preflight check went ok and i went back to the office to let my FI know. We got into the R22 and started with pre-engine start checks and started the engine (which i had to do on my own). When we were ready for departure i had to call ground to get clearance for the grass runway to do some more hover exercises.
There we were at 27 deg outside (the instrument showed 32 deg but that's because the heat from the exhaust close to the ground) at 5 to 7 feet above the grass and my FI started talking about different things in life. I recognised a bit later, that he had his hands off the controls all the time (nevertheless still close enough to take control whenever it should be necessary). Suddenly he said: Ok, for the log: After 15 mins the penny has dropped (dunno whether you know this german proverb). You are able to hover the chopper. I looked at his face, but he was serious. I had logged a total of 2 hours and 36 minutes before that lesson with hover exercises of 1 hour and 23 minutes. He then told me: I want you to go over to that runway light, and i did. Then another one, and another one, and another one. Soft, calm and slowly.
We continued with setting the helicopter to the ground, taking off again while making him light on the skids and i should get the feeling of where it wants to go and don't let him do that. Bit more pitch, bit more left pedal, cyclic correcting the movement and lifting the helicopter soft and slowly. I still had some problems like back- or sidewards movement when getting to the ground though. The wind has been between 3 and 6 knots variable between 220 and 290 degrees.
When i remember my introduction session a bit less than 3 years ago i was on that same grass rwy and only had about 20 mins there. The chopper was going everywhere with me and i thought: You will never ever get this sorted out. That's why i am surprised that it did happen so fast. Sure, there will be other days and then it might not go as smooth as it did today. On the other hand, you can make a fool of everyone even with 100+ hours logged after their license. But i do think that i made one big point today on the way to my PHPL. Future will tell whether hovering is like riding a bicycle...
Regards,
Ready2Fly